Oslo Airport recorded an important increase in air cargo last year, mostly for the volume of exports of fresh seafood from Norway, making the cargo airport the biggest in the Nordic region, NRK reported.

According to the airport operator Avinor, from this airport 185,000 tonnes of air cargo were conducted last year, which represented a 35 percent increase compared to 2016.

“The biggest volumes in air cargo at Oslo Airport today are in fresh Norwegian seafood, which is exported to global markets," said Avinor's cargo director, Martin Langaas.

"This is good news for the Norwegian seafood industry, which during last year has increased its competitiveness further, thanks to better connectivity and capacity directly out of Norway," he added.

Several new cargo airlines started using Oslo Airport last year, which according to Avinor, "helped to reduce the onward journey length of Norwegian seafood and to increase capacity significantly".

The Director also reported that Norway generated around 230,000 tonnes of seafood as air cargo in 2017. Of this volume, 39 percent flew directly out of Norway from Oslo Airport.

“The figures for 2017 and the previous year show that there is plenty of appetite in the industry for capacity on direct flights, and that more Norwegian seafood is being flown directly out of Norway. That is important for the Norwegian seafood industry and for value creation throughout Norway,” Langaas concluded.[email protected]www.fis.com